Master yourself, Master your Memories
by araconos
Summary: Lee Sin has always been one of Valorans favorite champions - but what secrets hide behind the sightless eyes of the blind monk? And how will he deal when those very secrets suddenly appear in his life and literally control him?
1. Chapter 1

His breath came in short, ragged gasps. His hands, still held out before him, were stained crimson. His robes, a deep, dark blue, mingled with the dark red of blood, and a steady dripping sound was heard as more of the crimson liquid fell from the roof, gravity tearing it down just as easily as it had escaped the body it was once a part of.

The mangled corpse in the center of the platform was easily the most terrifying thing the young summoner he had ever seen. Misshapen, missing limbs, muscle and intestine exposed, the heart still beating, but that drum was slowing. But the worst part was the eyes.

Those eyes - they looked at him, and he knew he would never cleanse that sight from his mind as long as he lived. The confusion, the fear, the anger that was slowly creeping in, even as they grew dim and sightless. And the pain. Oh, the pain. The pure pain of knowing that the boy - for that was what it was, what it had once been - was about to die, that he would never grow old. Maybe he had been sleeping when he had been summoned, and this last nightmare was the last thing he had would ever see as he exited this world.

But the pain, the guilt, the accusation - that was all directed towards him, a young, ambitious boy who decided to toy with the lives of innocents because he was bored. He was responible for this. And later, weeks later, when they found where the boy had been taken from, he learned that he had managed to kill his entire village in the backlash. There had been no survivors.

He knew not even the fires of damnation could purge his guilt from him.

And still, the eyes watched.

Lee Sin bolted awake, sweat covering his body. The vision of the dream still lingered in his mind, and he tried to convince himself that it really had just been a nightmare, that he was safe in the Institute, in his room, alone.

But all that greeted him was darkness.

In a moment, he remembered where he was, the dream shaking off, leaving him and he climbed out of bed to perform his rituals. He could not get back to sleep, so he meditated as he practiced his forms: the dragon, the tiger, the crane, all ancient forms of stretches designed to test him, make him stronger. He fluidly moved from one stance to another, pausing only slowly in each stance, getting faster and faster with each move, until he finally ended in his final stance, the lotus - which left him, defying all gravity, floating the air with his legs crossed. His heart now calm, he walked sure-footedly to the balcony, and opened the door. He stood outside, facing forward.

"Only four and a quarter, then?"

Good. Had gotten a few hours of sleep then.

Of course, Lee was not positive of the time - the feel of chill had told him he had woken before the sun, but the direction of the wind patterns and the temperature let him know the sun was slowly starting to warm the air, even though it had yet to be seen.

One might argue that there were easier and more efficient ways to tell time - a clock or even a sundial, for instance - but what good is a clock you cannot see?

How does a blind man tell the time?

Lee slowly walked back to his room, mumbling quietly as he went.

"Twelve paces, turn left, three paces, right, four and a half - reach out and-"

The water from the sink was cold, shocking what little bit of sleep that was left from his system. He washed his face, used a clothe to wipe the sweat from his body, and turned his face to the mirror.

"I wish I could see you, old friend. It has been too long since I have laid eyes on what I should know more intimately than any lover. But I fear you have changed in the ten years it has been, yes?"

His reflection remained silent and unseen.

Lee Sin sighed. He needed something to do, and meditating did nothing but dredge up old memories on a nightmare night. So he walked calmly to the door, opened it, and walked down the halls of the east wing of the Institute of War.

Hey guys, my name is araconos, and this is my first time writing a story based off of LoL lore. I love the game and I love feedback, so feel free to add me on LoL or give me some feedback. Criticism is appreciated, as well as editing.


	2. Chapter 2

Lee Sin walked down the halls of the institute of war, the only things accompanying him the sounds of his own feet. He walked assuredly, because the echo of his own heart beat and his breathing told him the the walls were no where near to him and he had no fear of tripping over a bunched up rug or furniture.

Besides, he didnt need eyes to see. There were much better ways.

Lee sin thought as he walked, wondering who else would be up at this hour that would be willing to talk to him. Master Yi often awoke early, but spent his time meditating, as he would have been if he were not so restless. Irelia, maybe, but she most likely would be training, and Lee had his fill of violence satisfied by his dream.

Lee felt a slight pressure as he entered the main lobby. The feeling came from the protective field around the center of the building, which was neutral territory. If a spell was cast or a blow struck, the pressure would increase massively and lock everyone in the room in place. Lee sin heard low voices, quiet conversations, whispers and breaths - he knew exactly who was where who they were with. Several of them turned to look at the newcomer, but most returned to their conversations.

Two of them, Kennen - of course he would be awake - and Akali turned to him and nodded in greeting. Lee nodded back and walked in their general direction. As he walked closer, he heard sound he registered only subconsciously before grow stronger. A quick one-two thump, a whoosh, and a thump again. The cycle repeated instantly, endlessly, unceasingly. The sound of a heartbeat.

As he reached them, he noted the individual sounds they made as their blood flowed. He could hear the blood travel through the veins, and he had learned a technique from the monks at Shojin that allowed him to visualize the blood as a tree, giving him a rudimentary veiw of the people. So in a sense, he was not blind. He could see, maybe not with enough detail to be considered full-sighted, but enough to do his purpose in life - fight.

Akali turned to Lee. "We have been selected for training some mid-level summoners. I was told to tell you when you awoke, but you seem to have beaten me to the task of waking you up."

Kennen grimaced. "I still dont see why they need us. I mean, come on, we Ionians had newbie training last month! Why cant they give the Noxians some work for once?"

Lee, although not technically an Ionian, like to think of himself as one. He found that he was more similar to the trio of Ninjas than any of the other groups. He scoffed. "If you were an inexperienced summoner, would you want to be in the mind of a Noxian - or even a Voidling?"

Kennen nodded. "I suppose you have a point. It's only a 3v3, anyways. Just enough time to stretch our legs, so to speak. The midsummer tourny will be upon us shortly, and some more practice would always be appreciated."

"All we Ionians are probably going to pretty used picks in the upcoming tournament - I hear Ionia has a couple new hot-shot summoners looking to make a name for themselves this year."

Akali was suddenly shrouded by a purple glow, and she stood slightly apart from the others as Shen teleported into the room. "Did I miss anything interesting? I wasn't aware we were having a meeting" he said as he greeted the others - Lee Sin with a nod, Kennen with a fist-bump and Akali with a hug. Lee raised an eyebrow and looked at Kennen as she blushed, Shen releasing her as he realized that the others were watching.

Kennen smirked. "Akali and Shen, sitting in a tree - K - I -"

"L-L-I-N-G Kennen unless he learns to shut his mouth." Akali glared.

"Take the tension out on the field, guys - they'll more than likely put you on opposite teams, as the others will be Yi and Irelia." Shen said. "They'll probably have your summoner build you tanky, Lee."

He shrugged. "Doesnt matter what the build me. I could still kick your ass any day." He said, grinning at the taller man.

Shen raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? We'll, I heard that you -"

Kennen threw up his arms. "Spare us the taunts, Shen. Next thing you know you'll find your head kicked through a wall or something."

Shen snorted. "Whatever, shortstuff. And dont you just look adorable today? I could just pick you up and hurl you down the hall." Shen said, taking on a patronizing tone.

Kennen's hair stood on end, and as Shen reached down to pinch his cheek a small bolt of electricity zapped out and shocked him. Shen withdrew his hand, wincing. "Careful with the sparks, shrimp. The barrier could come down on us again. Remember last time that happened?"

Kennen immediately closed his eyes and shuddered. "Uhg. Last time that happened I was stuck underneath Gragas for almost an hour. Yeah, lets not get perma-stunned anytime soon."

The group laughed and joked until Akali announced she needed to shower, as she and kennen had been summoned earlier that morning - much earlier - and she left to her room, giving a hot look to Shen that everyone noticed. Upon realizing her mistake, the ninja blushed redder than brand and dashed down the hall, knocking over a summoner in her haste.

Shen smiled, and shrugged his shoulders, palms in the air. "I better get going too. I have a - ah - thing to get to." He stammered, fooling no one.

Lee Sin smiled. "Just make sure you clean yourself off after that "shower," ok?"

Shen blushed just like Akali had, and purple rings surrounded his feet. In a few seconds, he was gone, leaving a smirking yordle and highly amused Lee Sin in his wake.

"Uhg. At least there was no baby talk or nicknames." Kennen said.

"Since when have they..."

"Been doing the nasty? Three days ago, I think. Shen got a little drunk and let his 'solid brick wall' facade drop and told her what he really thought of her. Akali pretty much dragged him to her room after that."

Lee Sin smiled. "Glad they finally got that over with. Jeez, off the feild they really are shy and rather... well, oblivious."

"Not so sure about oblivious on Akali's part. Did you see the nurse outfit she wore to the skin party last month? Jeez, if I we about a foot... no, two feet..." Lee raised an eyebrow. "Okay, thee feet taller I would have at least attempted to bust a move. And she spent the whole party hanging off of his arm!

"Man, I wish I had a steady girlfriend or at least a hot fling." The yordle said, sighing.

Lee cocked his head. "What happened to you and poppy? I thought you guys had something there."

Kennen frowned. "Yeah for a while we did. But it didn't... work out. She um... wanted something I um... She just has no sense of humor, you know?" He said, stammering.

"She's a dominatrix, isnt she."

"Yeah. She is."

Lee just laughed. "Im gonna go back to my room and get ready for the match. Ill see you back here at noon, ok?"

"Sure, ill see you then. Hey, why don't you have a girl? I've never seen you have a steady girl. As a matter of fact, I dont think I've ever seen you have a fling." The yordle grinned. "Is there something you aren't telling me?"

Lee Sin felt the blood rush to his cheeks. "No no no no no, im not ah.. Uhm... I dont swing that way. You see, ah.."

"I know Taric is pretty available, and im pretty sure Ezreal is too... I hear Pantheon owns a bakery, if you're into the muscular ones..." the yordle listed off, grinning like a Shaco as Lee squirmed.

"No, you see, I was, ah, I never had a girlfriend before I went to the monastery. And, uhm, you know, there's no girls allowed when you're a monk, and I have my, well, disability, so I can't really 'check out' the girls here..."

"Your kidding me right? Your a virgin?" The yordle laughed. "No way man. You have got to be shitting me. You're what, twenty six and you are ripped to shit and you're a friggin Legend, and you cant get laid?"

"Shhhhhhh!" Lee clasped his hands over the yordles mouth. "Do not talk about this. You tell anyone, and I will Resonating Strike you so hard you'll be seeing throwing stars."

"No worries man. Your secret, safe. We gotta get you a girl, though."

"Yeah yeah yeah. Just go get ready for the match, and pray to all holy hell I'm on your team."

"Pfft. Whatever, im ready right now."

Lee smirked. "Blindness is no impairment against a smelly enemy."

Kennen rolled his eyes. "Be seeing you, then." With that, he turned into a ball of energy and bounced down the hall, stirring up a wind behind him and knocking over a few paintings.

Lee breathed deeply, trying to calm his heart and remove the heat from his face. He turned and saw a small group of apprentice summoners, ranging from age 15-25. Some of them stared, mouths open. A few of the younger ones pointed and swapped stories with their friends.

Lee turned and raised his hand, but stopped mid wave. A young girl, about 20, was facing him, rigid. He could "see" her muscles tense up, and heard her pulse increase massively. But the worst was that he could feel her gaze on him. He felt the heat, the anger, the utter revulsion - and the fear.

Lee turned and left, glad that he had no eyes to hold such emotions.

Because the girl wasn't the only one afraid.

araconos here again! I hope you enjoyed chapter 2 of my story. Im not sure how far im willing to take this - I have a general outline already put together and I'd love to make this a long story, but only if you guys like it. So, if you have any comments, criticisms, questions or edits, feel free to comment. If you want to add me on LoL (dont, I suck). im on NA server, and my user is - duh - araconos. I look forward to hearing your feedback!

P.S. By the way, I realize I use the word "saw" or "see" a lot to describe what Lee Sin registers with his visualizations. He has been blind for many years now and had learned this technique even before he was blinded by the monks at the Shojin Monastery - where Lee Sin learned to fight, weaponize his chakras, and smash his foot into his enemies face hard enough to kick them through walls. His use of the visualization technique - which I will name once I think/find something cool to call it - is at a master level, as he excelled at learning it - just as he excelled at becoming a summoner. He also has the ability to feel vibrations with his feet(thats why he's barefoot) and has learned to incorporate that into his vision. He also has the ability to "feel" with his chakra in about twenty feet in every direction or up to fifty feet if shot in a short "ball."


	3. Chapter 3

Note - _'Italics in quotes are mentally spoken conversations.' - 'Do you think the author is amazing?'_ He asked. 'Nah,_ hes just k.' _Replied Robby

_Italics without quotes are thought by the mentioned person - Actually, if the laws of nature allowed it, I would bear the authors children._ He thought

"Murderer. You killed them. You killed them all."

"You're a monster. Hah, most Noxians look like saints next to you."

"You killed them. You killed them all."

Lee Sin backed into a corner. The crowd pushed in around him, muttering. Whispering. Accusing. He had no defense, every word was true. How do you defend against words you yourself have said?

The crowd parted and the girl walked through. "Monster. Demon. Murderer. You killed them all, and now it is time for you to face your punishment." Her face - how do you describe a face you have never seen before? - was a simple white slab, oval in form. There was no nose to speak of, no real features. But the eyes. They terrified Lee. They didn't blink, didn't waver, didn't do anything but stare deep into his soul, accusing, hating, fearing. She was shorter than Lee, but he knew that hight did not mean power. The woman walked slowly forward, her hand outstretched. Her hand stretched and distorted, her nails turning to claws, fingers reaching into his chest, wrapping around his heart, twisting, tearing, removing -

Lee shot up, coated in sweat. The dream faded slowly, as it did, leaving him with a racing heart, soaked bedsheets and guilt. Always guilt. He sighed, slumping forward. This was the third night in a row he had had a nightmare. If he would remove his headband, people would see a pure black ring around his eyes from lack of sleep. Why couldn't he ever have a good dream for once?

"Why is it that all I can see is fear?"

Kennen waved to him as he entered the summoning room, dedicated to the Twisted Treeline. "Guess who you get to fight today, tough guy?"

Lee looked at the assembled group. Akali and Shen stood off to one side, the latter reassuring the former of something. Akali seemed somewhat upset, but she shrugged and left the Eye of Twilight to walk off to the corner and begin sharpening her Kamas. Yi sat in a corner, meditating, and Irelia was talking to a summoner in a very animated conversation, unconsciously using her blades to preform gestures that scared the living crap out of the summoners near her.

"Well, seeing as Akali is upset about something, so my guess is they put her on a team opposite shen. You have a shit-eating grin, so im assuming you are on the enemy team along with Shen, as they would not put him on my team if they wanted a balanced-class fight. Yi is most likely on your team as well, because having three heavy-damage assassins on our team is an easy way to insta-win the game. Am I right?" Lee rattled off.

Kennens ears drooped. "Oh, for the love of... how are you so smart AND beefy? I was totally hoping you'd be wrong." The yordle scowled. "Keep an eye out for shuriken, ok?" His eyes suddenly went wide as he realize what he had said. "Erm, I mean... ah..."

Lee laughed. "Fine, but you keep those over-sized rat ears on the lookout for flying Ionians." He was long used to people being concious - or even pitious- of his sight, or lack thereof. He didnt care. He often made sport of it himself. How are you supposed to laugh at others if you cannot face your own problems?

Kennen glared at him. "Ill have you know, these ears are very attractive to those with good taste."

"Oh, you mean anyone who has a furry fetish?"

The air began to crackle with electricity. Kennen balled his fists up, glaring up at Lee Sin. Suddenly, his hand darted out, striking with a powerful force - zapping Lee with a bolt of static electricty.

"Teach you to call me a furry."

"Well, its true. I guess we know how you get your powers - if my face was a rug, i'd generate a lot of static too."

Shen suddenly appeared next to them. "Children, children. Now is not the time for fighting each other." His smile faded and he grew straight-faced. When he spoke, his voice was void of inflection or emotion. "Save it for the arena." With that, he walked over to the summoning platforms to await the battle.

Kennen stared after him. "God, I hate when he does that. Hes usually such a nice guy, but mention battle or injustice or anything of the sort and he becomes 'the face of steel.'" Shaking his head, the yordle walked over to the platform as well.

Lee followed the two ninjas, noting Yi, Irelia and Akali were waiting. There were nine summoners present; three elders and six mid range summoners. He had been told that the apprentices were levels twenty through twenty five, so they would have adequate skills to control their champions. The reason for this exercise was to train the novices on the Twisted Treeline, a map used less often than the Summoners Rift. Whereas the Rift was used to settle large, war-sized disputes, the TT was used for minor battles, such as border wars between cities and smaller states. It was also used as an amusement by rich overlords; for a price, you could hire six summoners and their bond-champions to fight.

Lee Sin noted, with some surprise, that his own bond-summoner was present. Jon-Luke was a longtime friend of his, and was one of his teachers when Lee was an apprentice himself. They had been bonded for nearly three years now, but Jon-Luke was getting up there in the years and due for retirement soon.

_"I heard that."_ A voice said from his head.

Lee grinned. _"Just testing, old man. You get stuck with baby-sitting again?"_

The elder grinned at him across the platform. _"Dont make me pair you with Sariah, he says he would like to try making you build AP."_

Lee groaned through their link.

Each champion of the League was fitted with a summoner who matched their play-style and faction equally well. These pairs would become a strong fighting unit, and in important matches only Bonded summoners would be able to command those champions. Jon-Luke was actually a Demacian, but Lee was more of a factionless with a friendship towards Ionians than a real Ionian champion. Many champions existed like him - Sivir, Rammus, ect. They would be asked to fight in matches, and if the Bond agreed, they would fight. Sivir fought for money, and Lee would fight for whatever cause he thought was better, if he felt like fighting.

There was another group of factionless that could be used - but the Monstrosities were hard to appeal to and even harder to control. Beings like Cho'gath, Fiddlesticks or Nocturne were rarely used, and even then by very strong - or stupid - summoners.

At the moment, these apprentice summoners were unBound, and were experimenting with which playstyles they thought would suit them best. Each of these matches was a test, where the elder summoners would watch and note how they fought and controlled their champions. If they deemed a certain individual worthy, they would grant them points. So many points would allow them to advance to the next rank, closer to their goal of rank 30 and true summonership. However, failing to advance to the next rank within a set time would result in loss of levels, sending the summoner down ranks. This would keep the amount of ready and prepared summoners low enough so there were not many summoners lacking champions.

Lee looked at the group of apprentices. He recognized a few of them - Aaron, a boy of small build, who was extremely protective of his team mates and preferred tankier champions or protective supports. The boy was most likely going to be paired with Shen. Sariah, a tall, lanky young man with tousled red hair and an ever-present smirk, had a reputation for trying unexpected(and not entirely useful) builds, but he synergiesed well with bursty assassins.

Lee smiled. A few of the summoners nodded towards him, and he looked towards the end of the group -

-And the eyes burned into him again.

Lee stopped scanning and turned towards the young woman. She stared at him, her eyes boring holes into his head. Lee grimaced. _Nightmares, now my waking life._ Was there no escape? She was standing next to another girl about the same age as her, who was waving her hand in front of her face. She started, then turned back to her friend. Lee could hear her talking. He could hear every word everyone said in the room; but he chose to ignore them as to give them their privacy.

"No, theres no problem. Just... bad memories.'

_Lady, I highly doubt your memories are worse than mine._ He puzzled over her words though; how could he be involved in her past? Before he could come up with any ideas besides 'maybe i look like an old boyfriend?' Jon-Luke clapped his hands.

"Gather round, boys and girls. Time to divvy up the partners." Jon-Luke looked towards Lee. '_And know, I don't have a clue why she is so mad at you. She's deaf, you know. Maybe she's jealous of how you overcame your blindness and she can't hear?'_

'_This is more than just mere jealousy. I don't know -'_

_'Focus, Lee Sin. Battle looms.'_

Lee looked to Jon-Luke and nodded. Time for puzzlement is later. Now, he needed to focus. He 'closed his eyes,' shutting out all sound and senses. After a few brief seconds, he opened his eyes.

_Lesson three: find your center._

"Ok, so here is how this is going to work: Teams will be Shen, paired with Aaron -" the boy smiled shyly at this, looking towards his champion. Shen merely nodded. "-Kennen, paired with Sariah, and Yi, pair with Theo." Lee smirked, mouthing 'told ya so' towards Kennen. The yordle stuck his tongue out, making his bandana bulge.

"The other team will be Akali, paired with Yori -" The 'Glarer's' friend smiled, nodding happily "- Irelia, paired with Jared, and Lee Sin, paired with Sierra." Jared, a muscular boy, nodded his head and walked over to his champion. Lee turned slowly towards the last remaining girl. Her eyes were pointed down towards the ground, but that was better than burning into him. Lee turned to Jon-Luke to complain, but stopped when he heard a dripping sound.

He turned back to the girl - Sierra - as another tear fell to the floor. She was crying? Yori rushed to her side. Lee stood, stunned. Did she hate him that much?

After a brief moment, Yori ran to Jon-Luke. Lee walked over as well. What exactly was going on?

"What do you mean we cant switch? You can see how she is reacting!'

Jon-Luke shook his head. "The champions are set. Besides, you have always wanted to work with Akali instead of just a training clone. She needs to settle whatever her problem is now, or she will never become a good summoner."

Yori thought for a second, and turned towards her friend, stopping when she saw Lee.

Lee opened his arms, shrugging. "Why does she dislike me so much?"

Yori glared at him. Not as intense as Sierra had, but still enough to unsettle him. She walked by him, shaking her head.

"How would you feel towards the man who killed your family?"

Hello there, summoners! Just a few answers to some reviews I got:

I realize that some of my views on champions might not fit as they would according to the Lore. But if I were to base champions entirely off of the lore (i.e., Shen) I think I would be limited as to what I could have for interactions. If I left Shen as the 'unmovable, emotionless wall' it wouldnt be as fun. So I gave him a 'teemo complex' - all happy and nice, but the second shit hits the fan, he becomes the Eye of Twilight, an emotionless killer who will do anything to preserve the balance. I have also toned down the cursing coming from Lee's direction, as someone aptly noticed(thanks.) Lee will still swear, because he is friends with Kennen, a street born-and-raised yordle, who curses often.

Once again, I am araconos, and thank you for reading. Please leave a review, favorite, follow, scathing review of how much I suck and where I can stick my story - whatever you want. I appreciate it all.

bai!


End file.
